Netanyahu defies US on two states and escalates attack on Khan Younis.

Today's news: Pyongyang tests a "new" undersea nuclear weapon; Islamabad holds emergency meeting after border tensions; In Thailand, a man faces 50 years for lese majesty; New allegations of human rights violations in Colombo over anti-drug campaign; Tehran and Delhi begin talks to defend trade from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

ISRAEL - PALESTINE
The Israeli army is advancing in the southern area of the Strip, launching the most "intense" battle since the beginning of the year in Khan Younis, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had taken refuge fleeing from the north. Also in the sights of the fighters is the area where the largest hospital still functioning is located. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced "many more months" of war and publicly disavowed the US two-state proposal.

NORTH KOREA
Pyongyang has tested an "underwater nuclear weapon system", a new experiment by the Northern regime in response to the joint naval exercises of Washington, Seoul and Tokyo. According to the Ministry of Defense, relaunched by the state agency Kcna, the army "conducted a major test of the Haeil-5-23 submarine nuclear weapon system under development in the eastern sea".

PAKISTAN
Islamabad will hold an emergency security meeting today, led by interim Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar and featuring military and intelligence chiefs, to discuss border tension with Iran. In recent days, Tehran has attacked across the border, triggering the Pakistani military response. Civilian casualties were recorded on both fronts.

THAILAND
A 30-year-old faces a record sentence of 50 years in prison for treason, following dozens of posts on social media perceived as "critical" of the monarchy. Yesterday an appeals court imposed a sentence in addition to the first degree sentence on Mongkol "Busbas" Thirakot, an online clothing seller from Chiang Rai, adding 22 years to the initial 28 years of last year's sentence.

SRI LANKA
Colombo wants to continue the "Yuktiya" (Justice) anti-drug campaign that began in December and which recorded a total of 38,525 arrests, despite concerns from activist groups over "significant violations" of human rights. This week 33 NGOs, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists, expressed their fears.

IRAN - INDIA
Iran and India have begun a series of diplomatic talks aimed at seeking measures to help protect trade and exports from attacks by Tehran-linked Houthi militias from Yemen in the Red Sea. The initiative was launched by the Delhi government, concerned about possible repercussions on the economy and maritime traffic of regional tensions. The attacks have slowed trade between Asia and Europe, disrupting supply chains.

RUSSIA - CHINA
Chinese weapons experts, in an article in the Shanghai magazine Ordinance Industry Science and Technology, gave a rather low rating to the Russian Kinžal supersonic rockets. They were presented in 2018 by Vladimir Putin as "miracle weapons, without analogies to any other"; on the contrary, they would exploit "outdated technology" and are vulnerable.

KAZAKHSTAN
A monument was inaugurated in Almaty on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the birth of opposition politician Zamanbek Nurkadilov, who died in 2005 from three blows to the chest and head, while investigations established that it was suicide. After almost 20 years, this initiative appears as an indictment of the power of the former president Nursultan Nazarbaev by the current Kasym-Žomart Tokaev.

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